Joint arthroplasty is a well-known surgical procedure by which a diseased and/or damaged natural joint is replaced by a prosthetic joint. For example, in a total knee arthroplasty surgical procedure, a patient's natural knee joint is partially or totally replaced by a prosthetic knee joint or knee prosthesis. A typical knee prosthesis includes multiple prosthetic components, including a tibial tray, a femoral component, and a polymer insert or bearing positioned between the tibial tray and the femoral component. The tibial tray generally includes a plate having a stem extending distally therefrom, and the femoral component generally includes a pair of spaced apart condylar elements, which include surfaces that articulate with corresponding surfaces of the polymer bearing. The stem of the tibial tray is configured to be implanted in a surgically-prepared medullary canal of the patient's tibia, and the femoral component is configured to be coupled to a surgically-prepared distal end of a patient's femur
From time-to-time, a revision knee surgery may need to be performed on a patient. In such a revision knee surgery, the previously-implanted knee prosthesis is surgically removed and a replacement knee prosthesis is implanted. In some revision knee surgeries, all of the components of the previously-implanted knee prosthesis, including, for example, the tibial tray, the femoral component, and the polymer bearing, may be surgically removed. In other revision knee surgeries, only part of the previously-implanted knee prosthesis may be removed and replaced.
During any knee surgery, the orthopaedic surgeon typically uses a variety of different orthopaedic surgical instruments such as, for example, cutting blocks, reamers, drill guides, and other surgical instruments to prepare the patient's bones to receive the knee prosthesis. The surgeon may also utilize orthopaedic surgical instruments such as prosthetic trial components to size and select the appropriate prosthetic components. Such prosthetic trial components are shaped to match the size and shape as their corresponding prosthetic components but are not configured to be permanently implanted into the patient's bones. Instead, prosthetic trial components may be temporarily attached during surgery to the patient's bones in place of the prosthetic components to evaluate fit, range of motion, and other aspects of the patient's joint and assist the surgeon in selecting the prosthetic components of the orthopaedic prosthesis for implantation.